SHELBY PROMOTER (Montana) 03 September 04 Youths find cache of rattlers (Barbara Simonetti)
Photo at URL: Rattlers displayed after local men shot them with a .22 made for a grisly display (Rox Schackman)
A group of elementary-aged students came upon a den containing two 5-6 foot and four baby rattlesnakes, one of which was pregnant, Monday, Aug. 30.
The children had been hiking near the Dick Irvin truck wash east of the city near Marias Pack when they came upon the rattlesnakes.
Heading back to town they found Aaron Zachary, 20, and Casey Starr, 21, who accompanied one of the youths, Timmy Stone, 8, back to the area to hunt for the snakes.
"We wanted to dissect them," said Zachary. "We killed three of the baby snakes, but one got away down a hole."
"We shot them with a .22 while they were half in the hole, then dug them out with a shovel" stated Casey.
After cutting open one of the snakes, they discovered 21 live baby rattlers.
The trio spotted another rattlesnake adult snake that went down the hole before we could get it," said Zachary. "We waited for 45 minutes but it never came back out."
While it may be an exciting, catching live rattlesnakes can be dangerous. For the less intrepid, Toole County Donna Matoon suggested other measures.
"We suggest that [people finding rattlesnakes] back away from the snakes and get out of the area. Then contact the Sheriff's Office and they will take care of the snakes," said Matoon. "Even when a snake is dead, if the fangs prick the skin it can be toxic."
Youths find cache of rattlers
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MO Press: Youths find cache of rattlers
Replies (6)
"We wanted to dissect them," said Zachary. "We killed three of the baby snakes, but one got away down a hole."
Can anyone say "budding serial killer"?
timbers, and arent they protected? What other rattlesnakes are there in missouri?
At least two snakes got away. Too bad for mom and her babies though.
The story is in Montana (I believe its abbreviation would be MT, not MO). I'd guess the rattlers were one of the viridis's. I'm not saying we don't have rednecks here in Missouri.
I saw MO, and I usually skip the info lines and hit the story, which didnt state the state. My bad.
can't get over attitudes that are left over from the dark ages.
Ummmm...... I seem to have missed the part that mentioned consequenses for these budding young psyco killers in training. Are we to assume that if it were a cache of fluffy baby kitties and their moms that this story would have been covered in the same manner?
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GratefulFred
